My Teaching Philosophy

Element # 1: Communicative Approach

As an instructor, I make use of the Communicative Approach as pioneered by theorists including Dell Hymes, Stephen Krashen, and Michael Long. The Communicative Approach places more of an emphasis on authentic communicative opportunities and experiences to facilitate learning. Language skills such as grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary are integrated into lessons in a way that opens up opportunities for practice. In addition, I frequently utilize the task-based method, which focuses on having students utilize the language to complete a task such as with scenario practice or role-playing.

Element # 2: Culture and Language are Interconnected.

One key aspect of my lessons is the inclusion of knowledge about culture and history as it relates to the target language and country it is being used. As with most languages, culture often influenced the evolution of a language over time. In my opinion, it is impossible to master a language without knowing the culture it is associated with and it is impossible to know a culture without knowing the language either. This should be done without bringing any subjective bias into a lesson such as opinions on socio-cultural manners.

Element # 3: The Importance of Rapport

Building relationships with students and other stakeholders  is a key part of any learning process. This is especially true with college age students and adults, who often have many factors that may influence their overall learning experience such as careers, families, or other obligations. From the very first lesson, focus is placed on learning about the student’s needs, interests, and aspirations as well as how learning English can lead to greater success in those objectives. This building of relationships is essential for building trust and confidence in the learning process.

Element # 4: Constant and Consistent Feedback

The most important thing any language instructor can do for their students is provide constructive feedback that helps to improve fluency and accuracy in the language. Feedback should be 1.) immediate without disrupting the flow of the lesson , 2.) positive with the goal being to help the learner achieve awareness of their errors, and 3.) accurate in keeping with the rules of modern English.  The goal of giving feedback is a progressive state of constant improvement without jeopardizing student confidence.

Element 5: Always Learning and Improving

Being a professional in my field, my goal is to constantly seek new ways to grow and improve my skills. This can be through learning to develop new materials for teaching, utilizing new forms of technology to assist in the teaching process, studying new approaches and methods for use classes, and seeking constant feedback from mentors and leaders of my work environment.